以下的序文，摘自卷帙浩瀚的《神祇百科Encyclopedia Deifica》（有些杂乱无章的）引言：《神性者（包含在世者与消逝者）的传说，提炼自审慎的、跨信仰的比较研究，并得到欧格玛之手的启示Tales of Divinities，Both Living and Dead，Extracted Through StudiousCross-Faith Comparison and Revealed By the Hand of Oghma》，学识之叶神殿与图书馆的博学神父哈斯卡·迪耐立的助手，吉奈尔·艾因霍恩[Jenelle Einhorn，Acolyte of Learned Father Hasicor Danali of the Leaves of Learning Temple and Library] 【著】（1370 DR 版）：The following preface is excerpted from the （somewhat rambling） introduction to the multivolume Encyclopedia Deifica：Tales of Divinities，Both Living and Dead，Extracted Through StudiousCross-Faith Comparison and Revealed By the Hand of Oghma by JenelleEinhorn，Acolyte of Learned Father Hasicor Danali of the Leaves of Learning Temple and Library （1370 DR edition）：

费伦诸神祇的起源已失落于时间的迷雾中。对于托瑞尔[Toril]星球最早的岁月，我们所知的仅有——必须承认围绕诸族之间“什么降临在了黎明年代[the Dawn Days]”差异巨大的观点，还存在激烈的争论——从某个时间点开始，托瑞尔的智慧生命开始受到五支创造者种族的支配。The origins of the deities of Faerûn are lost in the mists of passing time. Of the earliest days of Toril，we know only—and the fervent controversy that surrounds much of what follows must be acknowledged，for many folk have very different views of what befell in the Dawn Days—that at some point intelligent life on Toril came to be dominated by five creator races.

屹立在五族之巅的是巨龙，它们在迅速主宰了地表世界。类恐龙种族则是最先崛起的霸权，但也最先走向衰败，他们幸存到今日的仅有作为不同物种的蜥蜴人、纳迦以及其他爬行动物。这场种族竞赛，由变成两栖动物、并取代了类恐龙种族的一种水生变形种族，反映到了托瑞尔星球的海洋中。这支变形种族在陆地上建立了骄傲的诸城市——不料后来竟会迫于沙华鱼人、人鱼以及梭螺海人的压力，堕落、退化到野蛮状态。这支种族今日仅孑余非变形的海洋种族洛卡鱼人和鱆族，以及地表生存、能变形的变形怪和高等变形怪。第四种创造者种族是一支森林种族，其后裔为精魄、石羊人以及今日其他较小的林地种族。人类是创造者种族中最后、最原始的一支，但他们一直有着最强的适应性和创造性，所以当他们的崛起终于到来时，其在速度和在整个行星范围内的效力都令人惊诧。Supreme among these were the dragons，who soon came to dominate the surface world. First to rise to dominance，but also first to fail，was a dinosauroid race that survives today only as the divergent species of lizard men，nagas，and other reptilian creatures. This race's growth was mirrored in the seas of Toril by an aquatic shapeshifting race that became amphibious and supplanted the dinosauroids. This amphibious race was the builder of proud cities on land—only to degenerate and fall back into barbarism much later under pressure from sahuagin，merfolk，and tritons. This race survives today only as the nonshapeshifting marine peoples of the locathah and the tako，and the land-dwelling，shapeshifting dopplegangers and greater dopplegangers. The fourth of the creator races was a sylvan people whose descendants are the sprites，korred，and many other small woodland folk of today. The humans were the last and most primitive of the creator races，but they have always been the most adaptable and ingenious，so their rise，when at last it came，was astonishing in both speed and planetwide efficiency.

创造者种族中最先进的几支全都掌握了足以开启位面旅行、创造异界之门，来连接国度天宇[Realmspace]与其他晶壁天宇的魔法——然而其他天宇的居民也是如此，而移民浪潮开始进入托瑞尔。在巨龙的势力上升到了顶点（他们彼此间的权力斗争此时开始缓和），并将地表世界的大部分地方划分为公认的领土之时，矮人、树人、精灵以及灵吸怪（按顺序）次第显现于费伦。The most advanced of the creator races all mastered magic enough to begin interplanar travel and to create gates linking what has come to be called Realmspace with other crystal spheres—but so did the inhabitants of other spheres，and waves of migration into Toril began. Dwarves，treants，elves，and illithids （in that order） appeared in Faerûn，as the might of the dragons rose to the point where their power struggles began to wane，and they divided most of the surface world into recognized territories.

半身人、侏儒和人鱼此后出现，而住在山里的人类（与矮人的接触对其起到了促进作用）则开始大跨步走向文明（从氏族、使用火、再到锻造武器）。再然后，类巨人、泰坦和梭螺海人初现费伦。撒伦精怪[sharn]和费林魔葵[phaerimm]也被认为约是在那时出现在诸国度[the Realms]的，虽然大部分其他种族并不知晓它们的存在。这些移民中最突出的是巨人，他们建立了王国并与占统治地位的巨龙开战。Halflings，gnomes，and merfolk then appeared，and the mountain-dwelling humans （spurred on by contact with dwarves） began to make strides towards civilization （forming clans，using fire，forging weapons）. Giantkin，titans，and tritons were then seen in Faerûn for the first time. It is also thought that the sharn and phaerimm appeared in the Realms at about this time，though most other creatures did not know of their presence. The giants，in particular，created realms and fought the ruling dragons.

很久之后，类地精（兽人、大地精以及它们较弱的亲族，如狗头人和地精）就像其他种族那样从其他天宇进入了费伦，并迁徙了现在被称为卡拉图[Kara-Tur]、马兹特克[Maztica]和扎卡拉[Zakhara]的地方并定居。Much later，goblinkin （orcs，hobgoblins，and their lesser kin such as kobolds and goblins） entered Faerûn，as did human peoples from other spheres，moving to settle in what we now know as Kara-Tur，Maztica，and Zakhara.

几个世纪后，跨位面迁徙的防洪闸被打开了，费伦出现了它的第一批眼魔、次级巨龙种族、血麋兽[leucrotta]、半人马[centaur]、半羊人[satyr]、半人狮[wemic]等等等等，与此同时巨人诸王国演化为了诸帝国，而巨龙的势力开始明显减弱。A few centuries later，the floodgates of transpheric migration opened，and Faerûn saw its first beholders，lesser dragon races，leucrotta，centaurs，satyrs，wemics，and the like，while the giant realms became empires and the power of the dragons began to visibly wane.

大量飞马和类人有翼种族大量涌进了诸国度，而之后的几伙人类移民则带为诸国度来了成熟的社会和宗教信仰：一伙从由季节性脉动的大河支配的沙漠地区涌入；随后，另一批从两个邻近地区涌入——其一是片荣光与帝国之地，另一则由城邦和大胆的哲学观拼凑而成——它们的神系互相照映，却非彼此的精确复制；之后的族群来自于一片与自然、与海洋、与它的一打强大神王的战士历史连接更紧密的土地。大约在这时，在那些从精灵处学得魔法的人类（不料竟会在魔法的实验和创新上迅速超越了他们的老师）的推动下，未来的耐瑟瑞尔[Netheril]开始崛起。Pegasi and humanlike winged races entered the Realms in numbers，and then several human migrations brought mature societies and religious faiths to the Realms：an influx from a land of desert governed by the seasonal pulse of a mighty river；then an influx from two neighboring lands—one a land of glory and empire，the other a patchwork of city's states and bold philosophies—whose pantheons reflected，but did not precisely duplicate each other；followed by folk from a more rugged land tied to nature，the sea，and the warrior history of its dozen-king greater god. At about this point，what would become Netheril began to rise，spurred by humans who learned magic from the elves，only to swiftly outstrip their teachers in magical experimentation and innovation.

随后，巨龙们在第一时间被羽翼丰满的耐瑟瑞尔王国或是征服、或是击败。Soon the fledgling realm of Netheril mastered or defeated dragons for the first time.

耐瑟诸神[The Gods of the Netherese]是首个由有组织的神祇组成的神系，它在费伦[Faerûn]大陆取得了普遍的重要地位。（所谓的“古老帝国[Old Empires]”的神祇们则紧随其后。）在耐瑟瑞尔，公民们迎来了几位极其强大的法师——神王[god-kings]——的统治，后者除了自己的力量、并不崇拜任何事物。这些大奥术师[archwizard]的宗教是众道攫求[the Pursuit of All]，意即成就一切（包括个人的魔力与不朽）。巫妖[Lichdom]是其中一条通向它的实验道路，而实现类似名为观察者幽魂[watchghost]的状态则是另一条。许多大奥术师将撒伦精怪作为一种更优越、发展更进一步的魔法种族效仿，而一些现在的撒伦精怪便曾是耐瑟瑞尔人类，他们实现或达成了撒伦精怪的形态，免于在绝望中被毁灭或拥抱非生命状态。The Gods of the Netherese were the first organized pantheon of deities to achieve widespread importance in Faerûn. （The deities of the so-called "Old Empires" followed soon after.） In Netheril，the citizenry came to be dominated by a few extremely powerful wizards—god-kings— who worshiped nothing but their own power. These religious of these archwizards was the Pursuit of All，the achievement of all-encompassing personal magical power and immortality. Lichdom was one experimental path to this，and achieving a state like unto the creatures known as watchghosts was another. Many archwizards looked to the sharn as being a superior，further-evolved magical race，and some present-day sharn may be former Netherese humans who took or attained sharn form rather than perish in despair or embrace unlife.

然而，耐瑟瑞尔渺小、但雄心勃勃的中间阶层中崇敬的是阿曼纳塔[Amaunator]，统治、文明与发展之太阳神。下层阶层崇拜“大地之母”迦纳斯[the Earthmother Jannath]（即裳提亚[Chauntea]），她在彼时的面相比今日的外观更为野性；卡拉苟斯[Garagos]（也被称为泰格斯[Targus]），即战争与战胜野兽（特别是巨龙）之神；密丝瑞尔[Mystryl]，被准巫师而非那些当权者崇拜；摩安多[Moander]，腐烂与腐败之神；塞伦涅[Selune]，她是温柔、充满爱的预言、恢复与净化之女神；莎尔[Shar]，她是诱人的秘密、邪恶、遗忘、冲突、苛政、黑暗以及怪物之女神；塔洛斯[Talos]，即风暴、瘟疫与毁灭之主；以及太姬[Tyche]，她位善变的运气女神，她监管着运气、机会、命运以及根源。很容易就能发现一些知名于古代耐瑟的神祇幸存到了当代（虽然发生了变化），而其他的已经衰弱或者完全消失。However，in Netheril a tiny，ambitious middle class venerated Amaunator，the sun god of rulership，civilization，and progress. The lower class worshiped the Earthmother Jannath（Chauntea），who had a far wilder aspect than her present-day face would belie；Garagos（also known as Targus），the god of war and victory over beasts—especially dragons；Mystryl，worshiped by would-be mages rather than those in power；Moander，god of rot and corruption；Selune，the gentle，loving goddess of prophecy，renewal，，and purification；Shar，the alluring goddess of mystery，evil，forgetfulness，strife，tyranny，darkness，and monsters；Talos，the lord of storms，pestilence，and destruction；and Tyche，the fickle luck goddess who oversaw luck，fortune，fate，and beginnings. It can readily be seen that some of the deities known in ancient Netheril survived to contemporary time，albeit changed，and that others have dwindled or vanished altogether.

在耐瑟瑞尔陨落至少千年之后，另一场短暂的移民潮为托瑞尔带来了更多的文化和宗教，移民潮来自于两片有着严寒、漫长的冬天的土地，那培育了粗壮的、灵巧的航海武士和劫掠传统。At least a millennia after Netheril fell，another brief wave of immigration brought yet more cultures and religions to Toril from two lands of harsh cold and long winters that bred stout and clever warriors of a sea-going and raiding tradition.

神性队伍最近一场显著变化是1358 DR的大灾难，这场灾难被称作动荡之年[the Time of Troubles]、诸神降世[the Fall of the Gods]、化身时代[the Time of the Avatars]、艾欧的干涉[the Intervention of Ao]或是众神之战[the Godswar]。在这灾变与反常的魔法偏差的年月里，几位神祇被毁灭，而新神登场获得了自己的权能。One notable recent change in the divine ranks was the cataclysm of 1358 DR，variously known as the Time of Troubles，the Fall of the Gods，the Time of the Avatars，the Intervention of Ao，or the Godswar. During this year of catastrophes and odd magical aberrations several gods were destroyed and new deities arose to assume their powers.

可以轻易发现，古往今来，神祇们的相对权能总是随着在费伦的凡人崇拜者的数量与影响力而波动，这是一项不断变化、而非静态的事物。在关于神祇和祭职人员的任何讨论中，必须记住保持神秘同样重要，即便这样看上去不太准确。实际上，这一方面是由于神性者的影响和欲望，另一方面也由于费伦务实、创新的神职人员，后者为他们自己和为了给崇拜者奠定指导和服务，而总是在设计和制定新的仪式、惯例、头衔、纪念和规章。费伦的观察家们不必惊讶遭遇到在本卷所列中被省略、忽视、或看似矛盾抵触的信条、典礼和宗教礼仪。It can readily be seen that，down through the ages，the relative power of deities has always depended on the numbers and influence of their mortal worshipers in Faerûn and that this is an ever-changing，not a static，thing. It is also important to remember that in any discussion of deities and priesthoods，much must remain mysterious and even seemingly imprecise. In part，this is due to divine influence and desires and also to the pragmatic and creative clergy of Faerûn，who are always devising and proclaiming new rituals，customs，titles，observances，and rules for themselves and for the lay worshipers they guide and serve. Some priesthoods are notable for the energy and unceasing nature of their internal power struggles，which give rise to schisms，covert factions，and a variety of rituals and behaviors. An observer in Faerûn must not be surprised to encounter beliefs，ceremonies，and religious courtesies that are omitted，slighted，or seemingly contradicted in this volume.

艾伯尔·托瑞尔星球的诸神是真实存在的。他们向崇拜者授予魔法，而其个体力量随着所掌握凡人崇拜者的数量的波动而起伏。祭司唯有在侍奉神祇的过程中，忠于他们神力的目标和规则、并根据神祇的愿望行事，从而取悦他们的神祇，方能晋升其阶层。大部分费伦佬认为，在考虑是否必须信任某人、与其贸易、或是一起冒险时，了解其宗教倾向是明智的——但他们在试图了解这些事项时会谨慎而为，因为公开问询宗教信仰的行为，经常是最高程度的侮辱。已知有些家伙会直接攻击（即便是间接地并且最礼貌地）打听其信仰者。The gods of the Abcir-Toril are real beings. They grant magic to their worshipers and grow or diminish in personal power in relation to the number of mortal worshippers they possess. Priests in the service of a god advance in rank only if they please their deity by remaining faithful to their power's aims and rules and behaving as their deity wishes. Most folk in Faerûn consider it wise to known the religious affiliations of persons they must trust，do business with，or adventure with—but they take care when seeking to learn such things，since it is often an affront of the highest order to ask about religious beliefs openly. Some folk have been known to attack individuals inquiring （even obliquely and with the greatest politeness） as to their faith.

神性存在数量上的过剩，以及其众所代表或象征的神职之繁冗，让对诸国度其他信仰或崇拜保持容忍成了普遍状态。而在普罗大众实际生活中，这种容忍达到了只要其人不犯法就能包容的程度（不过人祭普遍被认为是谋杀，未经授权使用他人物品作为祭品则被视为盗窃，在某些情况下还被视为肆意的破坏）。然而，某些个人——尤其是神职人员——或许一点也不容忍其他信仰。对于自己并不侍奉或不太可能敬拜的神，过于深入地询问敬拜的细节也被认为是不礼貌的行为。The plethora of divine beings and the wide variedty of portfolios which they represent or epitomize has led to general tolerance of the beliefs and worship of others in the Realms. Among the general populace，this extends to all who do not break the law （but human sacrifice is generally considered murder，and the unauthorized use of another's goods as offerings is theft and in some cases also wanton destruction）. Individuals，however—particularly members of a priesthood—may be not at all tolerant of the beliefs of others. It is considered impolite to inquire too deeply into the details of worshiping a god one does not serve or is not likely to venerate.